


Friendly Competitions

by Gothic_Lolita



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: And Bucky and Steve are oblivious, Annoyed Avengers, Competition, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Tony and T'Challa are childish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 03:10:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11546259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothic_Lolita/pseuds/Gothic_Lolita
Summary: After the Avengers' Civil War, the Avengers are finally whole again and romances form. But when a billionaire and a king are determined to prove who's the better boyfriend between the two, a much different kind of war is bound to ensue.





	Friendly Competitions

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 한국어 available: [선의의 경쟁](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13477509) by [Dummy_pilgrim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dummy_pilgrim/pseuds/Dummy_pilgrim)



> I don't really know where this idea came from, but it wouldn't let me sleep, so I wrote it out. I lowkey ignored the whole Bucky going back into cryo thing, but I lowkey don't care. Either way, enjoy.

It had all begun so innocent. With the Civil War in the Avengers' past, all of them had moved into the new Avengers building upstate. They finally had a chance to heal, and rebuild themselves up as an even stronger team, with a few new members. Grudges were slowly being let go, and relationships were slowly restored.

Tony personally had a lot to let go, most of it being guilt for his role in the whole catastrophe. So, in typical fashion for Tony Stark, he tried to smother his guilt with money. As an apology to Steve, he designed Captain America a new suit, since his old one was in tatters. It looked mostly the same, but had a few extra little additions, courtesy of Stark tech. Tony had also restored the shield, fixing it of all scratches and dents. He tried, and ultimately succeeded, in restoring not only his friendship with the Captain, but also in rekindling their old flame. The two reconciled, and became the power couple they once were.

T'Challa had noticed the change in Tony and Steve's relationship, and used it as inspiration for his own extended olive branch. He felt his own guilt for letting vengeance blind him, and wanted to make it up to the Winter Soldier. So he designed, built, and paid for Bucky's new and improved arm. He may not have been the one to blast it off, but he had played a part in the Civil War. He also wanted to kindle a flame of his own. T'Challa knew very well it wasn't going to be easy to make a romance out of a relationship that had begun with one hellbent on killing the other, but he at least wanted to try. T'Challa was surprised, to say the least, when his romantic pursuit of Bucky actually went somewhere, and Bucky seemed eager for a relationship as well. After finding out about the ex-assassin's love for books, he had bought Bucky almost a library full of them, as a romantic gesture. The two started steadily dating in secret, and were happy.

Tony noticed it immediately. It was hard to miss, with Bucky prancing around with a new fancy Wakanda tech arm, and constantly reading books that came out of seemingly nowhere, it was obvious to the genius. T'Challa was trying to one-up Tony. Tony knew T'Challa and Bucky were a thing, after all Bucky told Steve everything and Steve told Tony everything. So naturally, T'Challa and all his kingly-ness was trying to outdo Tony by being a better boyfriend. After all, when wasn't someone trying to one-up Tony Stark? Tony wasn't going to let it slid. So he bought Steve an insanely expensive paint set. Steve had, of course, scolded Tony for spending that much money on him, but couldn't resist going a bit gaga over the paints. Tony was satisfied, having evened the playing field.

It took T'Challa quite awhile to notice Steve's new paint set. At first he hadn't thought much of it. Tony had every right to spoil his boyfriend. But within time, he realized how smug the billionaire was about it. Like he thought he could do better than T'Challa. That infuriated the king. The Wakandan made it his personal duty to make sure Tony Stark knew who the better boyfriend was.

It became an unspoken competition between the two. Tony Stark may have been CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, but T'Challa was king of a powerhouse country that was home to most of the world's vibranium. They fought to see who could spend more money on their respective boyfriends. Gifts, dates, everything possible, both Tony and T'Challa threw cash at it. And yet things had only just begun.

When they both ran out of expensive things to buy for their significant others, the two had to get creative. They both constantly looked for new ways to outdo the other.

Public affection was Tony's first method, beyond money. During an Avengers movie night, while they all gathered in the communal living room, Tony took his golden opportunity. He grabbed Steve and snuggled underneath the supersoldier's arm, trying his best to look as cute and innocent as possible. Steve, naturally, fell right for it, never being able to resist Tony. Sure, he was surprised to see his antisocial boyfriend so eager for cuddling, but didn't hesitate to pull Tony closer and kiss the genius's forehead lovingly. He couldn't see the smug smirk Tony flashed in T'Challa's direction.

T'Challa nearly growled out loud, seeing Tony clearly outdo him. He glanced over at Bucky, who was sitting next to him, and decided to strike. He grabbed Bucky's arm and wrapped it around himself, startling the Winter Soldier. Bucky tried to protest, telling T'Challa it wasn't a good idea to make their relationship known, but T'Challa silenced him with a sweet kiss. It worked perfectly and Bucky sighed but smiled as he pulled the king into his lap to cuddle. T'Challa returned the smug smirk to Tony, who was now glaring at him.

After that, it became an all out war. Nothing was off limits as Tony and T'Challa fought to outdo each other. The other Avengers slowly caught on to the silent battle, but Steve and Bucky both remained oblivious, and only enjoyed being smothered with attention. Tony began convincing Steve to have sex in more open places, just to be overhead by T'Challa, and in response T'Challa started personally cooking all of Bucky's meals right in front of Tony. They both started protecting their boyfriends in battle so much that Captain America and Winter Soldier barely even did anything on the field anymore.

Things got so intense that neither Bucky nor Steve could walk into a room that T'Challa or Tony were in without practically being attacked with affection. The Avengers were truly baffled as to how Bucky and Steve managed to remain blind to the silent feud, but were also slowly getting fed up with it. It was finally Natasha who broke the silence.

"Alright, I've had enough of you two!" She snapped one morning, massaging her temples. The entire Avengers team was in the kitchen, getting breakfast.

"Excuse me?" Tony said with a frown.

The redhead glared at him. "Oh don't you even try to play innocent. I'm sick of you and T'Challa having this... Childish competition to feed your egos!" She ground out. "The only people who haven't noticed you two constantly trying to outdo each other is Barnes and Rogers, which is ironic considering you're using them to do it!"

Steve blinked. "What?"

Clint rolled his eyes. "Lemme put it to you in simple terms, Cap. Your boyfriend and T'Challa somehow got into a war over who's a better boyfriend, or something like that, and have been smothering you and Barnes with gifts and affection and whatever else it is. I wouldn't be surprised if they've compared dick sizes yet." The archer explained. The rest of the team nodded. Bucky choked on his oatmeal.

"Tony!" Steve scolded. "Don't tell me you've actually been taking part in this!"

The billionaire's cheeks heated. "I... well, I mean there is a small possibility...." Steve glared at him. "He started it!" Tony exclaimed, pointing at T'Challa like a five year old.

T'Challa scoffed. "I certainly wouldn't be childish enough to start something like this."

"Yet you seem to be childish enough to continue it." Vision pointed out. Wanda snorted.

"Yeah, what he said!" Tony said, gesturing to Vision.

Steve rolled his eyes. "I can't believe I actually have to say this." He muttered. "I don't care who started it, I'm ending it! Tony, I love you, but you don't have to go and try to outdo T'Challa just to prove yourself. I'm sure Bucky thinks the same about T'Challa." Steve soothed, and not-so-discreetly prompted Bucky.

Bucky, who had his head in his hands in exasperation and embarrassment, looked up. "Stevie's right, T'Challa. You guys don't have to do this. You're both great boyfriends." He finally forced out. Steve smiled and nodded. "T'Challa is clearly better though." Bucky mumbled as an afterthought.

Steve's eyes narrowed. "What was that, Buck?"

Bucky shrugged. "Just said T'Challa's better. It's the truth." He admitted confidently.

"Tony is light years better than T'Challa, sorry Bucky." Steve snapped back, a smirk on his face. Bucky glared back at his friend.

Sam groaned. "And here we go again."

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really ship either of these, I prefer IronPanther or WinterIron over both of these. But Eh, the idea of Tony and T'Challa fighting over who's better amused me too much to pass up.


End file.
